Exit Strategy

Our first-person narrator is a rogue SecUnit (Security Unit), a construct of cloned human and inorganic parts that calls itself Murderbot.

After events on Milu, Murderbot returns to HaveRaton Station. Its transport vessel, called Ship, is diverted near a security deployment. Suspecting a trap, Murderbot erases all evidence of its presence and escapes in an evac suit before Ship is boarded. Murderbot infiltrates the station’s interior through another vessel’s cargo bay by asking that transport politely for entry. Murderbot points out that the instructions humans give bots rarely direct them to refuse pleasant, unaggressive requests.

Inside, Murderbot hacks station systems to conceal its weapons and activates a program that makes its movements look more human. From a walkway, Murderbot observes a heavily armed, 23-person team from a security company called Palisade preparing to board Ship. By hacking a station security drone, it intercepts communications confirming the team is hunting for a rogue SecUnit, realizing the trap is for it. To alter its appearance and blend in further, it buys new clothing at the station mall—the first clothing it has ever selected for itself.

While downloading transport schedules, it discovers a news report that its former client,